


Closing Time

by Magpie_Crow



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Adoption, Baby Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Kid Fic, M/M, Trans!Roman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24153424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpie_Crow/pseuds/Magpie_Crow
Summary: This is a story about beginnings and endings, where Thomas adopts a child, and then the child grows up, and gets his own child, and what happens thereafter.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Comments: 11
Kudos: 95





	1. One Last Call for Alcohol

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic that I've had in my mind for quite some time, but only now decided to actually start writing it.

_“We’re worried about you, Thomas. Ever since your last break up, you’ve been drinking more. That’s not healthy, man.”_

_Thomas stared morosely at his half-empty bottle of beer. Joan was right, like they always were._

_“It’s just… I’m getting older, Joan. And I’ve always wanted a family, someone who I love and who loves me in return. It just seems like that’s getting less and less likely.”_

_“Well, have you considered adopting?”_

_Adopting. That was an idea. A very good idea. Joan was still talking, but Thomas tuned them out while he thought. A kid would be nice, definitely someone who he could love and would love him back. And it would be forever! Not just a few weeks and then they’d decide Thomas wasn’t good enough anymore. He could adopt an older kid, keep them from aging out of the system.  
It was perfect!_

_“-something small and fluffy, you know? Thomas?”_

_“Joan, you’re brilliant!”_

And that’s how he ended up here, fidgeting anxiously as the social worker came closer with the little girl he was meeting today. 

She was cute, even from a distance. Dark skin, dark curls, and a bright red dress that he hoped she’d picked out herself, because it screamed personality. 

“Good morning, Mister Sanders!” The social worker was cheery. “This little princess is Lydia! Say hi, Lydia!”

“Hello. I’mma prince, though, not a princess.”

The social worker sighed, and Thomas laughed, getting down on Lydia’s level to talk to her.

“Why don’t you want to be a princess?”

“Princesses are always getting saved! The prince is the real hero of the story!”

He nodded seriously. “I agree. How old are you, Lydia?”

She held up nine fingers, and then a tenth, which she bent. “Nine and a half! Almost ten!”

She was too _cute_! Her social worker told her to go play on the nearby playground while he and Thomas talked things over. 

“Why has she been in the system so long?”

“She’s got a very loud personality,” as if to prove his point, there was a shout of ‘die, villain!’ from the playground. “If I were to hazard a guess, she’d probably excel at theater or other performing arts. Unfortunately she’s been bounced around so much that she hasn’t had a chance to try anything yet.”

Thomas loved the little girl already. “Awesome! Where do I sign?”

~~

Lydia was _fascinated_ by the apartment. Thomas was glad it had two rooms, even if he’d had to clear his hobby items out of the spare room to make it fit for a little girl. 

“I get a whole room? To myself?”

“Sure do, kiddo! And we can decorate it however you want.”

“DISNEY!”

He laughed. “Disney it is. Do you want to get pizza and watch a movie to celebrate moving in with me?”

“Yes please! Can we watch Aladdin? I know all of the songs!”

Lydia was a child after his own heart. 

~~

“Thomas, I’m coming in!”

“Intruders!” Shrieked Lydia from the living room, where she had been coloring and watching Little Mermaid.

“What the-“ 

Thomas dashed out of the kitchen and slapped a hand over Joan’s mouth before they could say something unfortunate in front of the child. 

“I followed your advice! This is Lydia, she’s nine, and I adopted her three days ago.”

“Thomas.” Joan grabbed his face, looking him straight in the eye. “Thomas, I meant a _dog_ ,” he hissed. “Not an entire child!”

Thomas thought about that for a second, and then shrugged. “Too late now.”

“Mister Thomas says I can be a prince if I want to!” Lydia bounced up between them. “And princes protect people! You be nice to Mister Thomas or I’m gonna poke you!”

Looking down, they both noticed that Lydia had retrieved a toy sword from somewhere and was very seriously pointing it at Joan. 

“Isn’t she the best?”

~~~

“Hey, uh. Dad?” 

Thomas looked up from playing Word Crush on his phone, to see his sixteen-going-on-seventeen year old daughter shuffling nervously at the door of her room. 

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

Oh. This was a serious conversation. A ‘dad I might be pregnant’, or a ‘dad I tried marijuana’, or something like that. Shit. He put his phone screen down on the coffee table. 

“Pinky promise, sweetheart. What do you need to say?”

She shuffled towards him, wringing her hands. “I- uh. You said- You used to say I could be anything I wanted. Is that still true?”

Okay, taking a different turn than he’d expected, but maybe it was a good thing? “Of course! It’s absolutely still true, little prince. What do you want to be?” He figured pulling out the childhood nickname was a good idea. Maybe. 

“IthinkIwannabeaboy.”

“Okay, honey, you’re going to have to try that again.”

“I think I want to be a boy. Not a girl.”

Oh. Oh! That he could deal with. Good. He’d been afraid to become a grandfather this early. “Sure. He/him pronouns? What name would you like to use? I can help you medically transition once you turn eighteen, but do you want to go ahead and socially transition? We can move you to a new school if you’d like.”

“I- I don’t want to socially transition yet. I’m okay with Lydia for now, I haven’t decided on a new name. But-“

Uh-oh. 

“Can we have a gender-reveal party for friends and family when I do? A big one?”

Oh. “Of course! You think I’d do anything less for my son? Do you want to go ahead and tell anyone, or leave it a surprise for your party?”

“Let’s leave it a surprise.” He shuffled his feet a little.

“Are you scared?”

“Princes aren’t afraid of anything! But- yeah. A little.”

Thomas stood up and opened his arms for a hug. Lydia threw himself into it, pressing his face against Thomas’ shoulder.

“It’s gonna be alright, kiddo. Nothing will go wrong while I’m around.”

~~~

“What’s with the party, Thomathy?”

“That’s for Lydia to say.”

Their friends and family members were trickling into the park, laughing and greeting everyone they met. Joan punched Thomas’ arm. 

“This had better not be you telling us you’ve picked up another kid.”

Thomas shook his head. 

Once the last guest came, he gave Lydia a thumbs-up. Lydia hadn’t even told him the name he’d picked out, and he was very impatient to learn it and start using it for his son.

“Welcome, everyone! And thank you for coming!” Lydia sounded nervous, but kept his voice loud. “I have a small announcement to make.” He held a large black balloon over his head, and then popped it, letting blue glitter cascade over him. “It’s a boy?”

“You’re _pregnant_?” Joan sounded- something. Shocked?

He shook his head. “No, uh. It’s me. I’m the boy. And my name is Roman.”


	2. I Hope That You Found a Friend

“I’m about to have a baby, and it’s yours. Either come let me sign it away to you, or I’m putting it up for adoption.”

Roman didn’t say ‘that’s physically impossible’, or ‘do you even know how biology works?’ He just said “Okay, Katy. Which hospital are you at?”

It’s not like he wanted a baby. But. He knew Katy, and he knew the kind of people she hung out with, _and_ he knew what the system was like for little black kids, having been one in the system himself, so he might as well take the kid. 

On the drive to the hospital, he called his dad. “I’m adopting a baby.”

“Okay, Roman. Whose baby is it, do you know?”

“Katy’s. She thinks it’s mine, and I’m not going to tell her any differently.”

“I told you that girl wasn’t smart enough for you, kiddo.”

“Yeah, apparently not. What am I going to do with a baby?”

His dad sighed. “Bring it here and let me meet my grandchild, of course.”

“Okay, dad.”

~~

Virgil was a joy to have. It was hard, at first, but Roman got the hang of it before long. Katy had signed over her rights to him as soon as Roman had reached the hospital room, and he’d been able to take the newborn home then and there. 

He was a cute kid, if a little wrinkly. Maybe all newborns were wrinkly. Probably. 

Roman loved him already, from his tiny, perfect toes to the wisps of hair on his little head. 

He was gonna be the _best_ dad, to the very best son. 

~~

“Hello, fair friend! I called yesterday, to enroll my son?” 

The young man at the desk shuffled through a few papers, not looking up. “Yes! I remember. Let me find you an enrollment sheet. How old is he?”

“Twelve weeks.”

The man looked up and gaped at Roman. 

“Lydia? Lydia Sanders?”

Roman flushed. “Ah, well, it’s Roman now.”

“Right! Sorry! I didn’t know. Patton Foster. We were in theater together?”

Roman vaguely remembered a freshman by the name of Patton when he was a senior, but he also remembered- “Oh! Yes, you’re Logan’s little brother, right?” He remembered a young face peeking around the door as he and his classmate did a project for English.

Gosh, Patton sure had changed a lot!

“Yessir! So! You’ve got a kid?”

Roman lifted the carseat he was carrying so that Patton could see Virgil, asleep, over the counter. “His name is Virgil.”

Patton started to squeal, but clapped his hands over his mouth so as not to wake the baby. “He’s so cute!”

Nodding, Roman smiled at the other man. “He’s the best. Can I fill out those forms, though? I don’t want to be late for my first day back at work.” 

“Oh! Sure! Sorry! Let me grab those for you.”

~~

After that, Roman saw Patton every weekday when he dropped Virgil off. They had short conversations about anything and everything, from Patton’s life after Roman graduated to Roman’s transition to anything they could think of.

“They thought you were pregnant?”

“Dad thought they might, and the looks on their faces were hilarious.”

“You’re so _mean_ , Roman!” Patton paused. “I wish I could have seen their faces, though.”

Roman laughed, loud and exuberant. Virgil, three months old and precocious, started laughing along with him. 

It wasn’t long before Roman decided to ask a question. 

“Hey, so, we’re friends, sort of. Do you want to meet up on the weekend or something? It would be fun to get together and hang out, outside of the daycare.”

“I’d love that! The only person I hang out with on the regular is Logan, and he’s busy studying for finals right now, so I’ve been a little lonely. Want to meet up at Starbucks on Satuday?”

“Absolutely!”

Roman didn’t tack on ‘it’s a date!’, even though he wanted to. Patton was sweet, and good with children, and sweet, and extremely attractive, and, did he mention sweet? 

Patton was amazing, and Roman was quickly developing a massive crush on the younger man. It was almost embarrassing, how quickly his affections were growing. 

He couldn’t deny that he was aching for a romantic relationship. After he’d ended things with Katy, six months before Virgil was born, he hadn’t been dating at all. But with Patton- He didn’t want a short, physical relationship, like all the ones he’d had before. He wanted something real and lasting.

Maybe he was too far gone on Patton already. There was no telling whether the other was even interested in men or not. 

“Great! It’s a date!” Patton grinned at him from where he was pulling Virgil out of his carrier.

Roman could have melted on the spot, but he kept himself composed. 

“Indeed! I look forward to it immensely. Now, I must be off, work waits for no man!”

Patton laughed at him and helped Virgil wave, before turning into the inner parts of the daycare to get Virgil settled. 

Roman headed out quickly, glad that his dark skin helped hide the furious blush on his face. 

He was in so very deep. 

~~

Saturday came too slowly for Roman’s taste. The day of, he was vibrating with excitement as he dropped Virgil off to stay with his dad.

“Doing something fun today, kiddo?”

“Yes! I’m meeting with a friend. I should be back sometime mid-afternoon, but I’ll let you know if I’ll be away longer.”

“Don’t worry about it, Roman. I don’t mind spending the day with my adorable grandson.” Thomas ruffled Roman’s hair, smiling at him. “Go have fun on your date.”

“It’s not- I want it to be, of course, but it’s not a date. Just. Guys being pals. Pals being dudes.”

His dad rolled his eyes. “You should tell him. What harm could it do? It’s not as bad as telling your dad that you’re trans, is it?”

“It is!” Roman wailed. “What if I lose his friendship? What if he hates me and never wants to see me again and won’t take care of Virgil at the daycare anymore? What will I do?”

“What you’ve always done when people reject you, probably. Cry in your room and eat ice cream.”

“You wound me!”

“You asked for it. Now go. Have fun with your friend, and take as much time as you need.”

“Thanks, dad. You’re the best.”

“I try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls give me validation


	3. Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End

Patton liked Roman. Like liked him. And he’d thought that maybe, just maybe, Roman liked him back. 

And then he saw Roman in the park one Saturday, a Saturday he’d said he’d been busy, kissing a stranger. 

Of course, there was nothing wrong with that. Roman was allowed to kiss anyone he wanted to kiss. Even if it wasn’t Patton. Roman was allowed to go on cute dates with cute guys and Virgil (because who else would be in that stroller?) and Patton would be okay with it. 

Well, his heart would break a little bit, but it would be fine. 

Until Roman straight up lied to him when dropping Virgil off on Monday.

“Virgil and I went with my dad to visit my grandparents on Saturday. They adopted a new puppy, and it was so curious about Virgil!”

Which. Okay. Maybe Roman didn’t want to tell Patton that he had a boyfriend. That was okay. But he could have just not said anything, instead of making something up. 

It stung. Patton thought they’d been friends, thought that the looks that Roman sometimes shot him meant something more. But that _obviously_ wasn’t the case. 

So maybe he was a little mad. And maybe he took it out on Virgil a little bit by playing with the other kids in the daycare a little bit more. (Not much more, he wasn’t a horrible human being, he was just hurt.)

So maybe he didn’t notice when Virgil crawled up to the half-door and started cooing at whoever was on the other side. It sounded like the noises he made when Roman came to pick him up, so maybe Patton didn’t turn around as quickly as he might have had Roman not lied to him.

“Scuseee meee! I’m here to leave a kid behind!”

Patton spun around. That wasn’t Roman. The man on the other side of the door sure looked like Roman, almost as if he were a carbon copy, but it wasn’t Roman. Patton gaped. 

“Uh. Mister daycare dude? You with me? I gotta drop the kid off and go!”

“I’m so sorry!” Patton hurried forward and grabbed at a sign-in sheet. “I just- well- Virgil doesn’t generally like strangers.”

Virgil was still cooing up at the stranger, a bright grin on his face.

“Aww, cutie! Too bad I can’t stay and play!” 

The little boy in the stranger’s arms started wriggling to be let down.

“How old is he?”

“About a year! Definitely a little older than the cutie on the floor. I’m Remus, and this is my son, Emile.”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Patton!”

~~ 

Remus started coming earlier to drop Emile off. 

“I like having someone to talk to, and you’re nice.”

One day he showed Patton a picture of his husband, and Patton recognized it as the man he’d seen kissing the person he thought was Roman in the park. It made him happy, unbelievably so, that Roman really _hadn’t_ been lying to him.

He and Remus talked a lot. Well. Remus talked a lot. He had a lot to say, and it seemed like he didn’t have many people to say things to. 

“People generally don’t like me, but you do! My mom didn’t even like me, after I came out as trans.”

“Is that so?”

“I had an older sister, yanno? Mom always said that she got pregnant with me so soon after she gave my sister up, that God was telling her she needed to have a daughter! She was so mad when I realized I was a boy. Kicked me out and said my older sister probably wasn’t a godless whore like me.”

Yikes. Patton didn’t really know what to say to that. 

“But then I met Janus, and had Emile, and everything got better! I hope my sister is happy, wherever the hell she is, but I bet she’s not as happy as I am!”

Patton wondered. A lot. Roman Sanders and Remus Duke-Cartwright had so many similarities, it was almost disconcerting. 

~~

And then one day Roman came in right after Remus did to pick up Virgil.

Remus already had Emile in his arms, but he was having an animated conversation with a cooing Virgil, who was in Patton’s. The baby hadn’t seen his father just yet.

“Is that so, Virgil? You think Nightmare Before Christmas is the best movie? I’d have to agree.”

Virgil cooed again, and Patton watched as a sappy look came over Roman’s face. 

“Cheating on me with another dad, Virge? Do I need to fight for your honor?”

Remus turned around, and both of them froze. Patton could almost see the gears clicking in both of their heads.

“Were you given up at birth?”

“Yes.”

“Holy fishsticks. Are you trans too?”

“Indeed. Why are you-“

“I gotta tell mom! She’d be so mad that both of her ‘precious daughters’ were actually boys!” Remus doubled over, cackling.

Janus walked in, most likely to find out what was taking Remus so long. He saw the two apparent brothers and started to back out of the door, wisely trying to stay out of whatever the heck was going on.

Remus saw him before he could get out the door. “Jan! Jan, we gotta do Christmas cards! With my brother!” He dashed forward, shoved Emile into Janus’ arms, and then wrapped Roman up in a hug. “I think it would be smart to do a DNA test, but I’m pretty sure it’ll come back positive. I have a brother!”

Roman gave Patton a look that said ‘help me’, but wrapped his arms around Remus anyways. 

Patton was sure there was a soft look on his face, because when Remus finally let go and turned to face him, he crowed. 

“You like him! You like my brother! Y’all should kiss!”

He felt a little like a goldfish, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to find the words to deny what Remus was saying. But then- Then Roman was walking up to him, smiling gently.

“I normally don’t take advice from strangers, but someone with my own face telling me to kiss the love of my life? That sounds like a solid idea.”

And then they were kissing, and Patton was quite alright with that, thank you very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed! 
> 
> I set up a Discord server! <https://discord.gg/gtWgvQ4>  
> Join me to talk about my writing and stuff!
> 
> Find more on tumblr @we-are-fam-ily

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed! I promise there will be more of the boys in the other chapters, I just had to write this one first.


End file.
